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Join journalist Annalise Klingbeil and producer Kerianne Sproule as they dive into current municipal issues with community leaders, policy makers, politicians, journalists and — most importantly — everyday Calgarians. We take you beyond the daily headlines, and delve into topics that pique our interest and yours through in-depth reporting, entertaining conversation and engaging audio.
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Ten current and former city hall reporters talk about their favourite memories with host Annalise Klingbeil. 1. Robson Fletcher invents a word that’s now part of the Calgary lexicon 2. The famous Lucas Meyer unveils his highlight reel of council impressions 3. Helen Pike on puns, zucchinis and threats 4. Bill Kaufmann reveals what happened in Las V…
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Across Alberta, there were 482 opioid-related accidental deaths in the first nine months of 2017. Take a minute to let that number sink in. Nearly two Albertans are dying every single day from fentanyl and other opioids, and there’s no end in sight. This crisis is killing young men at a higher rate than anyone else. The majority of victims are dyin…
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For years, more than 30,000 drivers a day rolled by a long row of character homes along Memorial Drive, west of 10 Street N.W., with little thought. When a construction fence surrounded the homes, some Calgarians took note. After a bulldozer destroyed the vacated abodes, all of a sudden, citizens remarked that something was missing from their daily…
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When city council debated a pair of dedicated bus lanes proposed for southwest Calgary this week, it wasn't the first time — and it likely won't be the last. Despite getting the green light from council in 2011, controversy over the southwest bus rapid transit (BRT) project continues to rear its head. "It seems that every six months to a year, we’r…
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Ward 12 Coun. Shane Keating has a bumper sticker in his office. It says: "I do suburbs, but I do them right." On this episode, host Annalise Klingbeil drives (and complains about an abundance of traffic circles) as Keating tours listeners around Calgary's deep south. We travel through master-planned, mixed-use, compact neighbourhoods that Keating b…
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Ep. 12: 'It's a blood sport and I don't see any bleeding'
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41:41
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He calls city hall the big blue playpen and he's been covering it for nearly three decades. On this episode of the Confluence podcast, host Annalise Klingbeil speaks to ever-opinionated Calgary Sun columnist Rick 'the Dinger' Bell about the looming municipal election. With less than three weeks left before voters head to the ballot box, Bell says t…
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When he ran for mayor in 2010, Naheed Nenshi campaigned on 12 better ideas for Calgary. “Better idea number one is about secondary suites,” Nenshi said in a 2010 campaign video before he won council’s top job. “This is one of those areas where our city council could have acted decisively so long ago and they just haven’t.” But after seven years wit…
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If you’re a homeowner in Calgary and you want to put a stove in your basement, prepare for a process that’s unheard of in any other major Canadian city. Calgary remains one of the only municipalities across the country where most property owners who want a secondary suite must plead for a zoning change directly to city council. On this episode, hos…
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Ep. 9: Downtown Calgary’s 10-to-20-year problem
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42:14
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Picture Calgary’s downtown core, where tall office towers and cranes working on the next big project have long dominated the skyline. Today, the equivalent of one in four of those buildings sits completely empty. The city’s record-high downtown vacancy rate has even surpassed that of Manhattan at the height of the Great Depression. That’s a major p…
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City council's final meeting before their summer break felt like it would simply never end. Thankfully, after three long days, it finally did. "Ladies and gentleman, school is out for the summer," said Mayor Naheed Nenshi around 10:00 p.m. on Wednesday August 2, at the conclusion of a meeting that literally started the month before. On this episode…
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One's a retired Court of Queen’s Bench judge. The other a University of Calgary law professor. Together, they are tasked with keeping Calgary’s mayor and councillors on a short leash and under a watchful eye as city hall’s first integrity commissioner and ethics advisor. On this episode, Trevor Howell and Annalise Klingbeil sit down with Allen Sula…
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Ep. 6: The don't forget your helmet edition
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44:16
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What happens when a podcast host goes for a bike ride with city council's most ardent opponent of cycle infrastructure? Well, for starters, she learns that Ward 4 Coun. Sean Chu can indeed bike. Chu is the happy owner of a blue mountain bike and a helmet, which he regrettably forgot on our ride-along on Northmount Drive N.W. On this episode, hosts …
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Ep. 5: An '80s TV dad for mayor and Calgary's garish Stampede cartoons
38:21
38:21
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The race to become Calgary's next mayor has another entrant. Bill Smith, a Calgary lawyer and former president of the Alberta Progressive Conservative Party, formally kicked off his campaign at a well-attended event at Fort Calgary on June 12. On this episode, we visit the launch party and speak to Postmedia politics reporter James Wood about his t…
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Ep. 4: Grabbing a tiger by the tale and much ado about slates
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46:47
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The former owners of a well-known restaurant have sued Druh Farrell, accusing the inner-city councillor of — among others things — defamation, “systematically” flouting her public duties and corruption. And a foursome with conservative ties announced their intention to run as a slate in the October 16 Calgary Board of Education (CBE) election under…
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How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. It's Calgary's most ambitious infrastructure project to date. A 46-kilometre, $4.65-billion (and counting) light rail transit line that will tunnel beneath the downtown core and ease commutes for thousands of Calgarians in the deep south and far north. In early 2015, the Green Line LRT was still years…
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In this week's episode, we're joined by Ask Her board member Sarah Elder-Chamanara, former Calgary alderwoman Gael MacLeod, and Minister for the Status of Women Stephanie McLean to discuss why so few women run for public office, the discrimination they face, and ongoing efforts to boost the number of females on the ballot in Calgary's fall election…
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A popular mayor seeking re-election and vying to secure his political legacy. A veteran Ward 10 councillor with "nothing to lose" and everything to gain ... if he can woo enough voters in his favour on election day. No, we're not previewing this October's mayoral bout between Naheed Nenshi and Andre Chabot for the first full episode of The Confluen…
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Join hosts Trevor Howell and Annalise Klingbeil for thoughtful discussions on critical municipal issues with community leaders, policy makers, politicians and, most importantly, Calgarians who make this city unique and vibrant. Stay tuned for our first full episode on Friday, April, 21, 2017.
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